Indiana Regional Cities Initiative Gets Progress Report – Tristatehomepage.com

Evansville and Southwest Indiana continue to make strides in making the state of Indiana a magnet for business and opportunity and that was one of the major talking points today at the Indiana State Capital.

Members from Southwest Indiana's Regional Cities Initiative, including Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, gathered with leaders from other regional areas of the state.

Consider it a statewide progress report.

Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb, opened the celebration by saying, "So today we celebrate the progress of the three regions which you will hear from now."

Three regions, all reporting where they stand with $42 million each in matching funds to support their region's development.

"It's really important for the legislators to hear positive reinforcement on the Regional Cities bill that they passed two years ago," says Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

A five member board of Indiana's Southwest Region has put together a 3 year plan with at least 14 projects in motion to strengthen Gibson, Warrick, Posey, and Vanderburgh Counties.

President of the Southwest Indiana Region, Beth McFadin Higgins, says, "The projects have to be ready to go, well vetted, they have to be well funded. So we won't approve something that does not have their funding really down and secured."

Southwest Indiana's progress report shows six projects out of 14 approved -- with a total planned investment of over $920 million.

"We anticipate that an additional 70,000 people will move to Indiana's great Southwest," says McFadin Higgins.

Meanwhile, Mayor Winnecke says, "It's about growing population and it's about having the workforce available to go into these jobs that we're all competing for and trying to create."

Members say the progress is positive and a good report for legislators is imperative at this time.

McFadin Higgins says, "Right now they're deciding whether or not to create a separate round of Regional Cities and so if there's no return of investment on the first round, the second round seems less likely."

"I think it's important for the legislators to know it's working," says Mayor Winnecke. "You've heard already in each region of the state that the investment of private sector money has been equal to or greater than what they projected so, it's working."

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Indiana Regional Cities Initiative Gets Progress Report - Tristatehomepage.com